Pfizer Xanax ->>- Generic Alprazolam Xanax

My doc prescribed me 2MG Xanax to relieve anxiety. The first month I got the non-generic brand name Pfizer Xanax which worked like a charm. I took them as needed and that was it. Obviously generic's are far more cheaper than the brand name, so this month I tried the generic Xanax (2MG Alprazolam) and they do not compare to the brand nam ones at all. All they do is put me to sleep within 30 minutes and do nothing for stress. Is this normal that there is such a noticeable difference? My doctor told me there was a significant difference between brand name and generic's when it come to "benzo's". Can anyone say they agree or have experienced what I have?
When these runn out, you can bet I'll pay the $40.00 and get the brand name (as opposed to $12.00 for generic).

I was on Xanax several times before. And, I experienced the same exact thing as you. I was on 4 mg/day, and at one point, I was on 8 mg/day (too much!). But I will say this about brand name and generic. I noticed that not only did the generic work not anywhere as well as the brand name, it was slower to take effect. And that is not a good thing when anxiety or panic attacks strike you. I noticed that the real Xanax used to relieve symptoms in roughly 10 minutes, or less (never timed it, just guessing from experience), whereas the generic took substantially longer to take effect. I'm off that drug for some time now, and happy about it too. I had a few bad experiences that turned me off to it. Like once, when I was on 8 mg/day, I had a real a**hole doctor who was prescribing it to me. Well, after being on that sort of a dose for like three months, me and him have a big disagreement during one of my office visits. Well, after I left the office, he called the pharmacy and cut my dose from 8 mg/day, to -get this - 1/2 mg/day. Thats right! No tapering, just all of a sudden dropped me by 7.5 mg with no warning. Needless to say that withing like 12-18 hours, I suffered a seizure - I totally lost all muscle control and just dropped to the ground and started shaking uncontrollably for what seemed like forever. And it was the dead of winter with no one around to help me. Things eventually worked out for me (not him and me though, just me) and now I am off those pills. But they were effective. I just had some bad experiences mainly due to irresponsible psychiatrists who were prescribing them like candy to me.

Just some guy--Sorry to hear that! I would sue that Dr. because what he did is VERY wrong(malpractice),and he SHOULD have known about benzo w/d...I am NOT into law suits at all,but with this one I'd want to do something about it..Im sure that drop in dose is what caused your seizure...He should have not only warned you that he was going to ween you,but also ACTUALLY ween you! What a dumbass..

SOme number of years ago, I was on Xanax. My dosage ranged from 4mg/day to 8mg/day. I had both the name brand and generic (not sure which generic), but I do remember there being a difference. One of the biggest differences I noticed was how fast the name brand took effect. And when you are in the middle of panic attack, the last thing you want to do is wait for some cheap substitute to begin to work., as minutes seem like hours at those times. Name brand literally took effect in minutes (5-10 minutes, maybe, somewhere in there), And they didn't put me to sleep. They did what they were supposed to do, which I cannot say the generic did for me.
I am beginning to be a believer that this stuff that doctors and pharmacists tell you about generics being exactly the same thing is a crock of BS (If interested, see my post on Adderall vd Barr generic). I do not know what the chemical composition or whatever it is that makes them different, but in my experience over the years with a number of different frugs, the name brand has always worked better in some way or another when compared to the generic. I simply don't buy into this "they're the same thing" line anymore. At least in my case - and it may be different for others - the name brand is generally superior to generic for just about any drug I have been on, and had both the name and generic to compare.

Difference between brands.

Yes, indeed there can be a difference between generic and brand benzodiazepines. Just as well, there is oftentimes a difference between generics. I have had generic lorazepams which did not phase my panic attacks, and other brands did just fine, for example. I have noticed that the generics I have tried in Xanax did differ from the brand name samples I used. Some of the generics were close enough to the brand to keep buying. Bottom line: stick with the brand that works for you best.

A friend of mine (whom I happen to trust) is taking a third generation anti-psychotic. Since it is a fairly new drug, the patent hasn't expired so there are no generics on the american market. Thus, he had to get it from a Canadian pharmacy. To make sure they are the same thing, he tracked the brand name pill, and the generic to the factory they were made in India. They were made in the same factory from the same chemicals.

Also, I would be skeptical of anything posted on an open forum (do not trust me about what i posted ^^, check it out for yourself). Pharmaceutical companies are just as able to post on these sites as anyone else.

I've heard some of this generics just simply dont have the MG's in the pill it's suppose to have. It make look and feel like a 2MG but in reality it's a 1.7 for example. So it's not so much a chemical thing it's the manufacturing process. However I don't know how valid that is I've just heard that through other forums and things of that nature.

What is the problem with generic Xanax??

I've taken brand name Xanax from Pfizer a few years ago. Now I am taking 2 mg. generic Alprazolam and for the first month or so the pills were (yellow and in bar form). I went to a different pharmacy this month to get my script filled and I received (round, white pills). These different pills are terrible. I was breaking the yellow ones in half and they did control much of my anxiety symptoms. I was used to taking 1/2 twice a day. With these white round pills I can't break them in half easily and they often end up in pieces.
I first noticed the difference in it's strength and decided to take the whole pill around noon or so. All these white, round pills do is leave me frustrated, (still anxious) and drowsy. I didn't have these problems with the yellow, bar shaped pills I was taking and frankly I'm a little pissed off. What am I supposed to do?

I've taken brand name Xanax from Pfizer a few years ago. Now I am taking 2 mg. generic Alprazolam and for the first month or so the pills were (yellow and in bar form). I went to a different pharmacy this month to get my script filled and I received (round, white pills). These different pills are terrible. I was breaking the yellow ones in half and they did control much of my anxiety symptoms. I was used to taking 1/2 twice a day. With these white round pills I can't break them in half easily and they often end up in pieces.
I first noticed the difference in it's strength and decided to take the whole pill around noon or so. All these white, round pills do is leave me frustrated, (still anxious) and drowsy. I didn't have these problems with the yellow, bar shaped pills I was taking and frankly I'm a little pissed off. What am I supposed to do?

You are probably stuck like Chuck for the duration of the month. You'll have to count it as a lesson learned. I live in a rural area, right at the state line, and on my side, there are only 2 pharmacies I can use. When I try to take my scripts across the state line, the pharmacists always say they're not familiar with my doctor! I don't know why - it's less than 15-20 minutes away, with NOTHING in-between! But the one pharmacy is right next to my doctor's clinic, so it's real convenient, especially since they tend to schedule me in the afternoons. That doesn't give me time to make it to my other pharmacy I'd rather use, but they obviously have the better brands. The pharmacy seems to specialize in the medicine, I got burned once, then I got burned again, on a medicine they suddenly changed brands for some reason! They gave me the green Dava 1 mg at one point, and they sucked big-time! I was sooooo mad! But, the pharmacist looked at me like I was crazy when I told him there was a difference. It wasn't even worth taking them. But, a lot of doctors and pharmacists will tell you there is no difference in the generics, but there is! The FDA allows generic manufacturers up to a 20% reduction in the actual medicine. I have a high tolerance to benzos, but I really need them. I've had panic disorder and GAD most of my life, not to mention, I've had trauma after trauma, and even now, I'm in a violent situation that keeps me anxious. This new doctor (a psychologist) prescribed me 1 mg klonopin, and that REALLY isn't doing anything for me. Has anyone else had an experience like this with the klonopin? Around here, they're very conservative, and the ones who will prescribe, make you come back every month, give no refills, charge you twice as much as their other patients, and it's so frustrating that they're so scared to prescribe, they don't always treat the problem appropriately. So, yeah, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but you're in the same boat with the rest of us, trying to work through this benzo maze we're in. I'm still confused myself!

Are you serious? Brand and Generic have to have the same stuff in it or they can't sell it FDA people. It has to have the same AMOUNT as the brand because if the FDA did say they could reduce it's content by 20% don't you think it's street value would go down. It's called being a brand snob.

They're SUPPOSED to have the same ingredients in them pal, but that's another thing you can file under "what health professionals say". C'mon, when I first was started on Suboxone, Xanax and others, I was told the drugs weren't addicting! As I'm sure were many other people. I have also noticed differences between generics and brand name drugs. Specifically Adderal & Xanax. Walgreens seems to carry the highest quality generics. Walmart is usually terrible, and CVS ain't that great either. Rite Aid and Walgreens seem to have the best quality drugs IMHO.

Adderall is made by the same people who make the generic, there are two different types of generic. I'm not counting the wafers. Right now there is a war FDA >>. Adderall (brand and generic they are very short supplied.) and I'm guessing it will spread to other types of control 2 substances. Honestly it's all depends what pharmacy gets what, some get the pink ones, others get the orange ones. Some who usually get the orange ones have been getting the pink ones and vice verse. Xanax I do hear a lot about the differences about them, some reason I've only been getting the round ones as of late.

I'm trying to find a generic alprozalam that is the most comparable to Xanax. I think we all agree that there IS definitely a difference between Xanax,which I have been using for 5 years @ 8 mgs a day,and there is a difference between the many different makers of alprozolam generics. My insurance has changed and will now only pay 50% on a non preffered script,so to keep using Xanax I would be out about 350-400 dollars a month.From 2000- 2006 I was taking a generic made by Roche Laboratories,maybe somebody here remembers those.They were bars and yellow,and were very comparable to Xanax. I got them from Walgreens,but in 06' Walgreens stopped carrying them.I took the generc brand for a few weeks and then went for my Pshyc appointment. I told him that these new ones I was taking were not working as well and I was having to take twice as many to do the same thing as 1 of my 2mg Xanax( I was on 16mg a day at this point in therapy). He said that the pharmaceutical company HAD to put the same amount of the active ingredient into each dose.He said that the big difference was what had been used as filler. There are no requirements in that area,and that,he said was the major difference.That's when he changed my script to name brand.He's not around to ask anymore, and my GP just looks at me like I don't know what I'm talking about.So, if anybody has found a decent alternative in the generic area drop a line.....PLEASE!!!!

The 2mg white alprazolam pills are Mylan generic brand and are terrible. I was once a pharmacy technician at CVS and believe me, they purchase the lowest quality generics just to save a quick buck. I am prescribed 90 2mg a month and I only go to Walgreens for the yellow generic bars because they are by far more superior, so is Walgreens in general. Anyways, I am thinking of getting the name brand to get better results. Can anyone tell me what the differences are in effects between the two? Thanks

The 2mg white alprazolam pills are Mylan generic brand and are terrible. I was once a pharmacy technician at CVS and believe me, they purchase the lowest quality generics just to save a quick buck. I am prescribed 90 2mg a month and I only go to Walgreens for the yellow generic bars because they are by far more superior, so is Walgreens in general. Anyways, I am thinking of getting the name brand to get better results. Can anyone tell me what the differences are in effects between the two? Thanks

The difference is this. Brand name Xanax has a whole 2mg, also they hit faster then Generics. Today at my pharm I got some new Generics, That say 1 1 on them , They seem to work just as good if not better then the Brand name

Also these new ones I got that are oval-bar shaped that say 1 1 on them they're 2mg alprazolam and seem to work just as good if not better then The brand name Xanax, I am quite impressed, hopefully your pharmacy's will get these new ones they're the Generics from Rite aid. they no longer say GG### Its just 1 1 oval

I did not have any idea of the effects which occures after taking it ! So, it better for me to be quite!

As a I studies about various drugs I also learn on Xanax a drug which belongs from the class of benzodiazepines, it's works on our nervous system and stimulate the effect of neurotransmitter.

This is the drug which commonly prescribed for helping you when any alleviate symptoms occurs I mean like anxiety and Panic.

I should suggest you must if you have problem in using this another brand, then you must consult with doctor, they will take care of all the concerns and will show you the facts and the symptoms after taking the drugs!

@justsomeguy Oh my god don't take this the wrong way but someone was NOT doing their job from the first place if they are prescribing you 8 mgs a day!!!!! That is absolutely horrifying, from even a trauma nurse standpoint. Max really should be four; I'm a little floored that your doc (don't know your history, time on med/tolerance I apologize) but jeez, that made my eyes pop out of my head a little. And for the new doc; my rationale is that he probably thought the same thing from a medical standpoint as I did which is flags for drug seeking; HOWEVER he should have never dropped you from 8 to .5. I find it mind boggling in the first place there is a md that would put their license on the line for 8mg q day but even still, the dosage should have been tapered; not drastically cut back. Sometime a dose like that may come back as a red dal for anyone who does not know the patient in regards for abuse/distribution, but regardless, with the knowledge of the medical personal titration should have been considered and put into effect. I'm happy to hear you are off the drug. Xanax can be a nasty, nasty thing once addicted. I hope you are living better with less anxiety! And an e-slap on the hand for the dr that prescribed you that much in the first place my goodness! Why not order you for some propofol while he's at it? Best of luck

Nurse im on 10mg xanax aday and beleive me i need it ypu dont know what someone haa been through and its been 7 yrs stated 4-6-8-10mg without these well i just dont know and my doc has my best interest at heart more info to tell u why then u would undrstnd

wow!

Originally Posted by JustSomeGuy

SOme number of years ago, I was on Xanax. My dosage ranged from 4mg/day to 8mg/day. I had both the name brand and generic (not sure which generic), but I do remember there being a difference. One of the biggest differences I noticed was how fast the name brand took effect. And when you are in the middle of panic attack, the last thing you want to do is wait for some cheap substitute to begin to work., as minutes seem like hours at those times. Name brand literally took effect in minutes (5-10 minutes, maybe, somewhere in there), And they didn't put me to sleep. They did what they were supposed to do, which I cannot say the generic did for me.
I am beginning to be a believer that this stuff that doctors and pharmacists tell you about generics being exactly the same thing is a crock of BS (If interested, see my post on Adderall vd Barr generic). I do not know what the chemical composition or whatever it is that makes them different, but in my experience over the years with a number of different frugs, the name brand has always worked better in some way or another when compared to the generic. I simply don't buy into this "they're the same thing" line anymore. At least in my case - and it may be different for others - the name brand is generally superior to generic for just about any drug I have been on, and had both the name and generic to compare.

You could of taken him to court or call the bar system on him. Got him a suspended liceience or made him loose his liceience. And sue his ass for malpractice. Yall didnt talk about weening off, he got mad and took you down to such a low dosage knowing you've been on a high dosage for that long. That could have seriously hurt you more than it did. Doctors should know you cant quit cold turkey without weening. I would of sued him and got a settlement for all the pain and suffering. And so he couldnt do that to someone else.

Never try to break a round pill with your hands. Buy a pill cutter. Ive got one and its great when I want to only take a half dosage. So invest in a pill cutter, they are really cheap and they cut them perfectly in half and it wont cruble into pieces!

I had regular xanax and just got the generics alprazolam. To me there is no difference. To me they work the same, have the same effect make me feel the same and they also start working into my system the same amount of time. The reason generics are cheaper is because the companys that make generics make more than 1 type of pill. The non generics company only makes that 1 pill. So the name brand would be more expensive due to this fact. And generics be cheaper bc the company makes more than 1 type of generic pills in different medications.

I've heard some of this generics just simply dont have the MG's in the pill it's suppose to have. It make look and feel like a 2MG but in reality it's a 1.7 for example. So it's not so much a chemical thing it's the manufacturing process. However I don't know how valid that is I've just heard that through other forums and things of that nature.

How does such mg differences affect someone on a slow taper?
It seems it could cause big problems at low dosages .

IMO It's mostly a mind thing , used to like the mylan Generic , now I wan Greenstone but cant find them , the Boca brand were pretty cool. Now I'm on the yellow bars ,been 2+ years now ,& feel I want to change but only want Greenstone ,brand, or Boca.
But like I said it mosty mental, but if I think it dont work as good they likely won't.
Oh well
Go without & ill bet you will take any brand you can get. I would.

i have been taking xanax (real and generic) for 31 years. The difference between xanax and generic is about $400 for 90 2mg pills. If you want your generic xanax to perform like the real deal ... CHEW THEM. They are an acquired taste but BELIEVE ME -- it is one you will learn to enjoy when you start to feel that Anxiety-Stress- MELTDOWN coming on! YOUR WELCOME

They're all the same in my opinion...18yrs

Originally Posted by JOHNNY LATS

My doc prescribed me 2MG Xanax to relieve anxiety. The first month I got the non-generic brand name Pfizer Xanax which worked like a charm. I took them as needed and that was it. Obviously generic's are far more cheaper than the brand name, so this month I tried the generic Xanax (2MG Alprazolam) and they do not compare to the brand nam ones at all. All they do is put me to sleep within 30 minutes and do nothing for stress. Is this normal that there is such a noticeable difference? My doctor told me there was a significant difference between brand name and generic's when it come to "benzo's". Can anyone say they agree or have experienced what I have?
When these runn out, you can bet I'll pay the $40.00 and get the brand name (as opposed to $12.00 for generic).

I've had the brand but I gotta be honest, they've ALL worked the exact same on me. Greenstone is the best generic

either those of you taking 8 mgs are abusing your scripts or you have high end private dr.! The most is 4, I spoke with my Dr. and she told me anything above that will result in withdrawls and seizures if you run out! before refills.After all those damned celebrities overdosed it has been a nightmare for the poor to get the treatment they deserve! I believe (whitney,Jackson,ledger,anna Nicole,winehouse,elvis,cobain,etc)met their fates because money and prestige is more important to those drs egos/wallets than the health of their patients Same thing goes for millionaires/billionaires! They all get valium,xanax,klonopins at their 1st visit & the rest of us hve to search for a compassionate doctors!